Claud Elliott Creek Overview: Physical and Biological

ORIGINAL PURPOSE:

To protect representative old-growth montane forest communities on
northeastern Vancouver Island

Physical: The reserve comprises mostly southeast-facing and some south-facing slopes of
a low mountain ridge. Bedrocks belong to the Island Intrusions formation and
surficial materials are till and colluvium. Soils are mostly Orthic Humo-ferric
Podzols.

See the complete version of this document at: claud
Biological: This reserve represents some of the forest types most wide-spread on central and
northern Vancouver Island. Major dominant trees are (in order of abundance):
western hemlock, amabilis fir, western redcedar and, rarely, Douglas-fir. The
most common communities are: (1) western hemlock-amabilis fir-oval leaved
and Alaskan blueberry-trailing raspberry-moss, (2) western hemlock-moss, and
(3) western hemlock-western redcedar-amabilis fir-blueberries and false azalea

queen’s cup-moss. Douglas-fir occurs rarely on the south-facing slope in community #1. Frequently, under dense tree canopies, all of these communities may have sparse or no shrub, herb and moss layers. The area has been identified as a critical deer winter range. Wolf, cougar and Roosevelt elk were reported from the vicinity prior to extensive logging in the
surrounding area.

 

THREATS
Climate Change: As montane forest communities are adapted to cool moist
environments, the area represented in this reserve may decline as
temperatures warm.
Forestry: Insufficient buffer zone increases windthrow risk within reserve.
Adjacent logging creates fringe effect and opens access to the
reserve, increasing the introduction of non-native invasive
species. Increased sedimentation in riparian habitats is also a
result.
Harvesting adjacent to reserve boundaries increases risk of
unauthorized harvesting within the reserve.
Program constraint: Lack of funding for aerial inspections of park boundaries directly
abutting tenured crown land and private land.
RESEARCH  OPPORTUNITIES
Reserve is good for studies in wildlife habitat, northern goshawk
and forest benchmarks.

Flora
azalea, false (Menziesia ferruginea ssp. ferruginea)
blueberry, Alaskan (Vaccinium alaskaense)
blueberry, oval-leaved (Vaccinium ovalifolium)
Douglas-fir, coast (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii)
fir, amabilis (Abies amabilis)
hemlock, western (Tsuga heterophylla)
queen’s cup (Clintonia uniflora)
raspberry, trailing (Rubus pubescens var. pubescens)
redcedar, western (Thuja plicata)
Fauna

Cougar (Puma concolor)
Deer, Black-tailed (Odocoileus hemionus ssp. hemionus)
Elk, Roosevelt (Cervus canadensis roosevelti)
Wolf, Grey (Canis lupus)